Yoshio Yoshida played shortsop for the Hanshin Tigers between 1953 and 1969. Appearing in 2007 games, he had 1864 hits with 66HR.

When he retired from playing, he managed the Tigers before moving to France, where he was manager for the French national team from 1989 to 1995. He is now affectionately known as "Monsieur Yoshida" in Japan owing to his time spent in France.

He was named to the Japanese Hall of Fame in 1992, and was one of the inaugural inductees in the Kyoto Sports Hall of Fame by the city of Kyoto, Japan in January 2011.